InstFont

Version:

1.0

Release date:

Tuesday, 4 September, 2018

Home:

http://www.altsan.org/programming/os2/index.html#instfont

Categories:

License:

Open source (generic)

Interface:

VIO

Italiano

Authors/Port authors:

Alex Taylor

InstFont is a simple command-line tool for installing a font under OS/2 Presentation Manager.

This program was written in order to facilitate automated font install packages.

While it is possible to install a font using REXX alone by setting the appropriate entries in OS2.INI, this technique requires a reboot in order to take effect (this is because the INI keys are only read at PM initialization).

In order to install a font on demand, the GPI function GpiLoadPublicFonts() must be called to register the font, and this API is not accessible from REXX. InstFont does this for you.)

This software is distributed in two modes:

as compressed package that you have to download and manually install; if prerequisites are required, you will have to manually install them too;
as RPM package; you can install it using your favorite rpm package manager, that will take care to download and install both the software and its prerequisites.

Choose the installation mode that you prefer. Please note that not all the versions are available in both the installation modes.

Installation with rpm

This program is installable using the rpm package manager. See below for the install string. Required prerequisites are automatically processed by the package manager and, if needed, downloaded and installed.

instfont-1.0.0-1.oc00 (04/09/2018)

Repository: Netlabs stable

install with ANPM or running the command:
```
yum install instfont
```

Manual installation

Program is distributed as ZIP package: download to temporary directory and unpack to a folder included in PATH. See below for download link(s).

Usage is simple:
instfont <font-filename>

instfont d:\temp\mynewfont.ttf

InstFont uses a Unix-like feedback philosophy: if the font is installed successfully, the program will return silently. Messages are displayed only if an error occurs. Possible error conditions:

"Failed to register font: GpiLoadPublicFonts() failed." - This generally indicates that the specified file was not a valid or recognized font file, or else could not be found at all.

"Failed to register font: PrfWriteProfileString() failed." - This indicates that the required entries could not be written to OS2.INI for some reason.

InstFont returns a boolean value: TRUE (1) on success, or FALSE (0) on failure. Please note that:

The font will be registered FROM ITS CURRENT LOCATION ON DISK. For example, if you run "instfont d:\temp\mynewfont.ttf", then the font will be installed as D:\TEMP\MYNEWFONT.TTF (and so you had better not delete the font from D:\TEMP later, if you want to keep using it).
If you prefer all installed fonts to be located in a common directory (e.g. ?:\PSFONTS), it is your responsibility to move the file there BEFORE running INSTFONT.
InstFont should work with any font format that is supported by OS/2, including bitmap (.FON), Type 1 (.PFM/.OFM), or TrueType (.TTF).
Newly-installed fonts might not show up in the XWorkplace Font Folder if the latter was previously opened since the last reboot. The font will, however, be available to applications, and can be viewed in the Font Palette.
You should not attempt to use a newly-installed font in any application that uses the Innotek Font Engine until you have rebooted the system. (this is a documented limitation of the Innotek Font Engine.)